Success Story

Program Helps Immigrants, Refugees Assimilate and Prosper

During the early 1900s, the Statue of Liberty stood as a beacon of hope and opportunity for immigrants arriving in a new land. Today, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. (Astoria) is helping refugees and immigrants from more than 40 countries learn the skills and access the services that can help them assimilate and prosper.  

The Refugee Self-Sufficiency Program (RSSP) is a citywide initiative based in New York’s Midwood (Brooklyn) and Pelham (Bronx) communities, two densely diverse immigrant neighborhoods.  

The last decade has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of New Yorkers who are English deficient, raising the total to 1.5 million. Thus, the core of the RSSP program is English language acquisition, often heralded as the “passport to a better life” for immigrants.  

Goodwill’s English language instruction, while covering all aspects of basic English, also focuses on language needed to find housing, read job advertisements and access public transportation. RSSP staff are fluent in the more prevalent languages and are often former immigrants and refugees themselves, which creates a welcoming, nurturing environment for participants.  

Next, Goodwill assesses participants’ job readiness and develops an individualized plan of training and supports needed to help them find work. This includes basic computer instruction, help applying and interviewing for jobs, basic time and stress management, and more. Participants also have use of a self-help resource room equipped with networked computers to access occupational information, online tutorials, a library of current employment periodicals and newspapers, and videos on interviewing and other job search strategies.  

To dispel myths and stereotypes and to promote the value of non-citizen workers, RSSP engaged in a comprehensive marketing campaign to educate employers and provide diversity training. A network of local, private-sector employers assembled by RSSP now stands ready and committed to offering employment opportunities. Some of the 700 employers include JP Morgan Chase Bank, CVS/Pharmacy, Ikon, Time Warner, McGraw-Hill, Blockbuster, Sears, and Payless.  

Lastly, intensive follow-up services — such as job-coaching, mediation and additional training or counseling — are provided to ensure both employee and employer satisfaction. Graduates of RSSP are automatically enrolled in Goodwill’s Member for Life Program, which pledges a lifetime of job placement assistance and other supports.  

Since 1999, the program has served more than 2,000 individuals and placed more than 1,000 into competitive jobs.

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Winner of a 2005 Families Count Family Strengthening Award, sponsored by Goodwill Industries International and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.